My Genealogy Hound

W. B. Smith, of the firm of Koppitz & Smith, proprietors of the “Banner Roller Mills” of Pacific, was born in Columbia, Monroe Co., Ill., November 11, 1848, and is the second of four children born to Valentine J. and Mahala M. (Johnson) Smith, natives, respectively, of Maine and Illinois. Valentine J. Smith was a son of John and Hannah (Jordan) Smith, natives of Holland, who immigrated to the United States, settling first in Bangor, Me, and in 1818 removed to Portsmouth, Ohio, where they spent the winter, thence moving to Georgetown, St. Clair Co., Ill., where they remained until the father’s death, in 1831, which was the first death of an adult of the family of which they have any account. He married in Maine, and of the five sons and three daughters born to him, Benjamin J. Smith is the only son now living; and the only daughter living is Sarah, wife of W. W. Johnson. Valentine J. Smith, father of our subject, was born in 1812, and died in September, 1856. When twelve years old, W. B. Smith was employed on the farm of his uncle. November 16, 1863, he went to assist his step-father, who was foreman of Warnock & Wilson’s flouring mill, where he remained five years. He then went to East St. Louis, and for three months worked in the “Dyke Mill;” he was next employed in Jacksonville, Ill., in the “Morgan Mills,” eighteen months, and subsequently worked in the “Columbia Star Mills” one year, when he took charge of the “Gardner Mills,” at that place, two and one-half years. He was again engaged at the Columbia Star Mills, where he remained until May 1, 1885, when he engaged in milling at his present location. Beside his interest in the mill and elevator at Pacific, Mr. Smith owns a residence in Columbia, Ill. He was married May 27, 1875, to Matilda A. Proctor, a native of Monroe County, Ill. They have three children: George, Roy and Burdella. Mrs. Smith is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Smith is a Republican in politics and a Master Mason, being a charter member of Columbia Lodge, No. 534, of Pacific, of which he is Worshipful Master. He is also a member of the A. O. U. W.